The Academy [BOOK ONE COMPLETE]

I walked after Grit, lost in my thoughts. My plan had been to head back to the dorm, but I guess eating would be nice. Grit told me that she had been stuck in a lecture hall for the whole time. Ferne had run out, locking the door from the outside with a spell. Some of the student council enthusiasts had eventually managed to break through the lock, which had caused the whole lecture hall to be filled with snow and ice.

“It was great,” Grit said.

“I bet,” I said. “Where are the others? You met Fek?”

“They’re coming later. Fek was soaked all over and freezing. Minnelil stayed to make sure he’s fine. I went ahead to reserve us seats. Everyone is always hungry after something like this.”

The dinner hadn’t started yet, but two thirds of the tables were already full. We found a corner spot and sat on the second to last seats, holding the end seats for Minnelil and Fek. Frederik was standing on the table in the middle of the hall, leading the people in a chant demanding steak.

I leaned over the table, my forehead almost touching Grit’s to make sure she heard me over the din. “So, now the wards should be fine, but Falar and Jextor are stuck in the infirmary. I hope the wards hold longer this time.”

“You got to hang with Falar again?” Grit asked. “I asked you to take me with you the next time, didn’t I?”

“You were stuck in a lecture hall.”

“Well, yeah, but I meant it,” Grit said.

I was about to continue the joke, but she sounded like she did mean it. “Grit?”

She looked down at her hands resting on the table, as the clamoring continued behind her. Frederik jumped up and down on the table. “He’s never anywhere. Just cooped up in his study or swarmed with people. And always busy. And he’s a teacher.”

She was clasping her hands together hard. I was sorry for her, but damn. “How dumb are you, really?” I asked, putting my hand on top of hers, squeezing lightly.

“I know,” she said, sniffing.

“I guess I… do you really want me to try?”

She shrugged, smiling and looking away from me. “I don’t know. Just forget about it.” She kept staring into the distance behind my left shoulder. “No one wanted to go close the door as it slammed around and more and more snow piled in. I was building up to doing it, but then the wind suddenly stopped. They said he stopped it.”

My hand was on hers, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I couldn’t take it away, but not doing anything didn’t feel right either.

I patted her hands twice.

“Grit. He’s a vicious bastard. He’s probably more interested in the skeletons inside people than the people themselves. But if you want, I’ll handle it. Okay?”

She nodded, mouth pursed.

I nodded back at her, and noticed Fek waving at me from the doorway. “They’re here.”

She nodded again, pulling her hands away to wipe her face. “Thanks, Lina. I’ll think about it.”

“What’s she going to be thinking about?” Fek asked, hopping to sit in the chair next to me.

“Her life choices,” I said. “Did the tent collapse? How did you get soaked?”

“Nah, the tent was fine. We had a snow fight with the skeletons.”

Minnelil sat next to Grit, on the opposite side of the table from me. “He somehow managed to reel in a bunch of other students. Eventually, the skeletons considered it an attack and retaliated by burying everyone into the big pile of snow near the edge of the merchant’s area. The janitor had to come put an end to it.”

“Hector always grumbles about it, but I got excited. That storm was really something,” Fek said. “It’s pretty loud in here. Do you think they’ll serve the dinner soon?”

“I seriously hope so,” I said, pressing both hands over my ears. Frederik had pulled dozens of people into a long line, hands on the waist of the person ahead. They stomped around the tables as the rest of the students clapped in rhythm.

---

Even after the skeletons had served dinner, everyone kept shouting and laughing and hooting. Someone threw a potato over the hall and hit a skeleton on the skull with it.

“I’m done,” I said, dodging a slipper sailing over the table. “I was planning on checking on the Bursar. I need to talk to someone sensible for a change.”

“Your standards are weird,” Grit said. “Good luck.”

I navigated my way out of the hall. Frederik waved at me, all blond hair and chin. I rolled my eyes, but nodded back.

“Lina!” he shouted, catching up to me when I was at the door.

“What?”

“Ahm, I heard you helped the teachers handle the wards? That’s pretty cool.”

“Cold, more like it. I didn’t do anything, just got roped in for being dumb. Where did you hear about that?”

“Word travels fast around here. The student council would like to—“

“Skip. I have business with the Bursar. Have to run.”

“Aww! Just consi—“

I closed the door on him, shaking my head. Tolerating Fek, Grit and Minnelil was enough. More attention could mean only more trouble. Lombarte was part of the council or at least somehow connected to it. Getting involved could be dangerous. Maybe he had actually put the blond doofus up to this? Lure me into some trap like the last time?

The air was heavy and oppressive. The new wards had to be stronger than the previous ones, if I could feel the pressure through the choker around my neck. The taste of mold lingered on my tongue, reminding me of something that had happened long ago. I spat over the walkway, trying to get the taste out of my mouth. It did nothing.

I shivered. The Bursar smelled of oil and copper and danger. I could deal with that. I hoped she’d identify the merchant by description, so I wouldn’t need to try to spell out his name.

---

“So. Anglhromendiabilis is back. Impressive inventory. Wares that are hard to access. Good news for the school.”

“Yeah, it sounded like the weather is getting worse outside as well. The guy complained about the winds and the cold. Might be less merchants coming for a while?”

“Possible.”

The Bursar screeched the single word and whipped around, hand striking into a pile of paper. She pulled out a small slip of paper, placing it before me on the table. “This is for you. A bonus.”

I leaned to look down at the paper. “Bonus? For wha…” My mouth hung open as I read what had been written on the paper. “Ten gold?”

“And nothing more,” she said, flicking two scalpel-tipped fingers to her own eyes and then toward mine.

I flinched back. “No, I mean, thank you. It’s a lot.”

“In that case. I will donate. Half back to the school.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” I said, crouching under the blades and snatching the paper from the desk just before her third arm slammed down on it. Could have lost a couple of fingers there, but it would have been worth it. Ten gold!

“Pfft,” she said, venting steam from the top of her head. “Humans.”

“We’re like that, yeah. But what is the bonus for? I haven’t really worked that hard?”

“What? Why haven’t you?”

“Ahm, no, wait, I mean…” I said, watching as the Bursar shivered, metal plating rattling all over her. The ambrosia running in her veins glowed brighter blue.

“I am joking,” she said, raising two of her hands up and flicking two scalpels up and down with both. The sound was a metallic snikt-snikt. “Your work has been acceptable. Bonus is for. Participating in the ward-work. It was not. Your responsibility.”

“Oh, well, thank you,” I said, bowing at her. I didn’t know what else to do. Ten gold was a small fortune. At least it would have been, a couple of weeks ago. It didn’t buy a single bottle of ambrosia, and at least two had been used on me so far. I shook my head, smacking my lips at the paper.

The Bursar watched me for a moment. Then the plates on her head moved up and down. “You are dismissed.”

“Right, right,” I said. “You sure you don’t need any help? Will this place be fine even if more merchants don’t come?”

“No. Yes. Remove yourself. I have suitable amount of work for myself.”

I nodded, turning around. Going back outside into the air that tasted like mold wasn’t a pleasant thought. Going back to all the people, living people.

“But I will remember your offer,” The Bursar suddenly said as I had reached the door. “Organizing alternative supply routes is work intensive. If it comes to that. I will call on you.”

I bowed again, fingers wrapped around the slip of paper inside my pocket. Two bows during a single day. I felt dumb, but what was the etiquette speaking with an angry mechanical accountant? Better be safe than dead.

The moon shone feebly, looking like a dusty pancake in the black sky. It was always dark around here, but it had to be pretty late already. I wasn’t tired, but that didn’t mean anything, not out here. I pulled out the slip and looked at it. I could get the coins whenever I wanted, and the merchants could even accept the slip as payment directly. I was sure they wouldn’t do it for the whole value, though. They would claim it was hazardous trying to cash it in from the Bursar, and they were probably right.

I chuckled, rubbing my neck. I stood a bit straighter, felt a bit stronger. The taste of mold had returned the moment I stepped outside. It sent shivers running down my spine.

---

“Hi,” I said, stepping into the dorm. “Oh, sorry.”

Grit looked like she was sleeping already, but she waved a hand at me lazily, eyes closed.

Minnelil sat at the desk, writing something.

Fek had a book before him, but his eyes were already almost shut, a yawn splitting his face in half.

“Maybe she can write in darkness, but you’ll ruin your eyes like that,” I said, voice low.

“I use the mana for light,” he said, drawing a small glowing circle into the air.

I pulled the robe over my head and threw it on the chest. “That can’t be the way you’re supposed to do that.” I had spent most of the initial money from the crate to buy clothes from the merchants. Clean linen like I had only dreamed of having on the streets, still a bit stiff for not being washed a hundred times. With the gold, I could get something lined with silk, tailored for me.

“Minnelil says she’s scared if I try to draw runes and Grit complains if I get it right.”

“You always make it too bright,” Grit said, opening her eyes and staring into the ceiling. “I knew it was a bad idea to try going to sleep before anyone else.”

The light rune was the simplest one Ferne had taught us. Fek made the end swirl too tight every time, but he was getting better. I yawned. The exhaustion was catching up to me now that I was inside, but I hadn’t come down from all the excitement and from Marcus’ explanation. My hands shook. Fek probably felt like this all the time. There was an anxious undercurrent to the excitement, like I couldn’t breathe properly.

I sat down next to Minnelil. “Are you in the middle of something?”

“I’m writing home. It’s nothing too urgent. What do you have in mind?” she said, blowing carefully on the fresh ink.

“Ferne said I could learn a spell soon, but I still can’t channel properly.”

“I’ll try to go back to sleep, so don’t flip any tables around this time,” Grit said, pulling the pillow from under her head and pressing it on her face. “It’s supposed to be hard, remember?”

“No promises,” I said.